[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 4 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H94]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      OUR ECONOMY IS IN A SHAMBLES

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. After 8 years of disastrous Bush-led trickle-down 
deregulation, anything-goes economic policies, our economy is in a 
shambles. Unemployment, foreclosures, they're skyrocketing.
  We need to rebuild the foundations of our economy, putting Americans 
back to work and putting our economy on a path to recovery.
  I congratulate the President-elect with his sense of urgency. Shovel-
ready infrastructure projects, he's put that on everybody's mind. 
That's excellent, tremendous public support. Unfortunately, the package 
is a little short on infrastructure and shovel-ready, and very long on 
tax cuts, the same policies that failed us during the Bush years. Five 
times as much for tax cuts.
  Will $8 a pay period additional in their take-home put Americans back 
to work? It's good for Americans. They're suffering. But will that 
rebuild our economy, put people back to work?
  Will a look back for the banks so they can get tax benefits, they can 
reclaim taxes they paid in the past, while taking TARP money and not 
telling us what they do with it, will that put Americans back to work?
  We need more investment in infrastructure and less emphasis on the 
tax cuts.

                          ____________________